Meet the exceptional men and women recognized as entrepreneurs creating the products and services that keep the economy moving forward:
Winner in the Overall and Emerging category, as well as the crowning achievement of EY’s U.S. Entrepreneur of the Year, is Brad Keywell — CEO of Uptake Technologies, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Keywell created a software company that connected sensors across industries with the cloud, making global giants like Berkshire Hathaway Energy and Caterpillar more productive. Through this, Keywell achieved “unicorn status” for Uptake — a valuation of more than USD1 billion — in his second year and while such early success is tremendous, his focus on continuing to use AI to change the world for the better, remains paramount. “One of the biggest misconceptions in technology is that we have to choose between profit and purpose,” says Keywell. “In the world we envision, there doesn’t have to be a choice between what’s good for business and what’s good for citizens or the environment.”
In the Media, Entertainment and Communications category, System1 LLC in Venice, California, USA, was a double winner, honoring Co‑Founder and President Michael Blend and Co‑Founder and CEO Chuck Ursini. The entrepreneurs created an algorithm to generate useful (instead of intrusive) targeted online ads. Their self-funded startup launched in 2013 and is currently on track to become the next billion-dollar Los Angeles business. A potent mix of “get-it-done” and “get-it-right” mentalities encourages an environment in which everyone feels free to express themselves, using reason and civility. “We encourage strong, fact-based opinions,” says Ursini. “The line we draw is that it never becomes personal.” Adds Blend, “There’s a sense of ownership; when things are good, our employees know it, and when we hit some bumps, they know it. They know we’re being honest with them … and it’s been helpful that our whole team has enjoyed financial success as well.”
Crystal Maggelet came to her role as CEO of FJ Management Inc. in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, via unenviable circumstances: after the sudden death of her CEO father, Maggelet stepped into his shoes, reorganized the unstable company and emerged with a new mission statement, “Building Value to Last.” Her win in the Family Business category is a combination of her success in saving her family business and her focus on the social well-being of her extended corporate family and beyond. “The definition of family business isn’t just my own children,” says Maggelet, “it’s all the families that work for us and their kids. I want to find the right people who are coming up through the ranks, whether they are family or not and build our companies into the future so that they last forever.”
And for Jeff Tangney, CEO of Doximity, Inc. in San Francisco, California, USA, a win for Services is a win for us all. Tangney’s Doximity has made is easier for physicians to collaborate, thanks to an extensive social network for the medical community created in 2012. Since then, more than 1 million medical professionals have signed up for the network, including more than 70 percent of all physicians in the United States, giving Doximity the fastest physician-adoption rate of any software in history. “I often joke that in health care, the people who say they’re disrupters are really just disturbances,” says Tangney. “We’ve been humble enough to know that health care is a system you need to work within; we’ve grown into the biggest network of physicians by focusing on their needs and helping from the inside.”
Congratulations to U.S. YPO members honored as EY 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year® award winners.
YPO members recognized as regional winners include:
Mike Baird, CEO, Avizia, Reston, Virginia, USA
David Birzon, CEO Snooze, AM Eatery, Denver, Colorado, USA
Marla Blow, Founder and CEO, FS Card Inc., Washington, D.C., USA
Jason Borschow, Founder & CEO, Abarca Health, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Andy Capps, Co-CEO, RESICAP, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Jassi Chadha, President & CEO, Axtria, Inc., Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, USA
Alex Danza, Founder & CEO, Vonlane, Dallas, Texas, USA
Brad S. Elliott, Chairman & CEO, Equity Bancshares Inc., Equity Bank, Wichita, Kansas, USA
Ann G. Fox, President and CEO, Nine Energy Service, Houston, Texas, USA
Nicholas Ryan Friedman, Co-Founder and President, College H.U.N.K.S. Hauling Junk & Moving, Tampa, Florida, USA
Mike Fritz, CEO, DWFritz Automation, Portland, Oregon, USA
Tim Gleeson, Chairman, CEO, Novasyte Health, Carlsbad, California, USA
Lair Kennedy, Chairman & Co-Founder, Health Carousel, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Patrick Maloney, Founder and CEO, Inspire, Los Angeles, California, USA
Gregory Marcus, President and CEO of The Marcus Corporation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
James McGoff, Cofounder and Co-CEO, TemperPack, Richmond, Virginia, USA
Bryan Meklir, President/CEO, BBMK Contracting dba Blue Team Restoration, Boca Raton, Florida, USA
Paul B. Murphy Jr., Chairman and CEO, Cadence Bancorporation, Houston, Texas, USA
Matthew O’Hayer, Chief Egg-Secutive Officer/Founder, Vital Farms, Inc., Austin, Texas, USA
Isaac Oates, Founder & CEO, Justworks, New York, New York, USA
Brad Oleshansky, Founder/CEO, M1 Concourse, Pontiac, Michigan, USA
Rick Perez, CEO, Avangard Innovative, Houston, Texas, USA
Michael Praeger, CEO and Co-Founder, AvidXchange, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Jonathan Saperstein, CEO, TreeTown USA, Houston, Texas, USA
Dan Simons, Founder & Co-Owner, Farmers Restaurant Group, Washington D.C., USA Founder, OurLastStraw.org, Washington D.C., USA
Steve Smith, CEO, Plus Consulting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Jennifer Tejada, CEO, PagerDuty, San Francisco, California, USA
Blake Walker, Founder and CEO, Arcis Golf, Dallas, Texas, USA
David Yang Wasielewski, Managing Partner, Northwest DTF Partners, LLC dba Din Tai Fung Restaurant, Seattle, Washington, USA
Ben Wright, Founder and CEO, Velocity Global, Denver, Colorado, USA
Brian Yeager, President/CEO, The Champion Companies, Westerville, Ohio, USA
Jon Ziglar, CEO, ParkMobile, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Do you know a great entrepreneur? Recommend them at https://geoy.ey.com. EY is YPO’s strategic learning advisor.
